Run to Me: Chapter 51

I stare down at Robyn as she sleeps in my arms. She got out of the hospital a week ago, and I’ve been putting off dealing with her brother because I haven’t wanted to leave her side, but I don’t want to leave it much longer.

My other reservation is that I need to talk to her about the fact I need to deal with him. She hasn’t asked about Jeremy or Lia since everything happened, and I think she knows on some level what has to happen, or maybe she thinks it’s already happened, I don’t know.

All I know is I can’t leave this apartment to kill her brother without talking to her first.

And I also can’t leave her alone because I’ll be stressed as fuck the whole time that I’m at the warehouse.

I grab my phone from the nightstand and send a text to Izzy.

I shut my phone off and run my fingers through Robyn’s hair. She had a small cut on her hairline that’s healed well, and she hasn’t had any headaches or any other symptoms from her concussion since she left the hospital, though her ribs are still a little sore.

I’m pretty sure I’m gonna die of blue balls if they don’t heal up soon, but I’d prefer that to hurting her. I’ve never felt so off balance than I have the last eleven days—seeing my girl hurt and in pain is a sight I never want to see again.

I let out a sigh before climbing out of bed and heading for the kitchen. Normally, I’d stay in bed with Robyn until she woke up, but if I did that today I’d be too easily distracted, and I’d convince myself that everything else could wait just so I could spend the day in bed with her.

She must have sensed I wasn’t in bed beside her, because I’m only halfway through drinking my coffee when she strolls into the kitchen in her little sleep shorts and tank top, wiping her eyes. Another thing that’s happened over the last week is her stomach has started to grow. We woke up on Tuesday morning and she just seemed to have popped, and now you can actually see my baby growing inside her, it’s fucking surreal and I’m so goddamn lucky. If anyone had told me last year that I’d be married with a baby on the way, I’d have fucking pissed myself laughing before gutting them.

“Morning,” she rasps.

“Morning angel,” I say and pour her a coffee. We’re both drinking decaf these days of course, can’t have anything harming our little one, and since the baby is half mine, I’ve basically declared myself as pregnant too and banned myself from all contraband. Robyn thinks I’m being ridiculous. I think I’m being a supportive husband and that more men should be like me.

“I didn’t like waking up alone.” She frowns as I sit down and plops herself on my lap.

“Sorry,” I murmur. “We need to talk.”

Her breath catches in her throat, and I know she knows what’s coming.

“It’s okay, Enzo. I know you need to do whatever it is you plan on doing and I’d rather not know the details, just know I love you and know that you’re doing whatever you think is best for our family.” She presses a kiss to my chin and the tension drains from my shoulders as I wrap my arms around her, nuzzling her hair as she leans back against me and lets out a shuddering breath.

“I love you, uccellina.”

“Love you.”

I stroll into the warehouse like I don’t have a care in the world, nodding to each soldier as I pass them. They nod back, though I don’t miss the hint of trepidation in their eyes. Over the last however many years—since I first started coming here at the age of sixteen—I’ve garnered a… reputation.

In other words, they all think I’m a raging lunatic who should be locked away in some sort of asylum.

Not sure why, since I’m like a ray of fucking sunshine.

Well, I’m currently putting on a sunshine exterior while inwardly buzzing with adrenaline and… anxiety? I think this is anxiety. All I know is I fucking hate being away from Robyn and I was attempting to call this thing off until Izzy put a gun to my head and told me to “get the fuck out” of my own apartment.

That girl is fucking crazy, and I appreciate it, because I need to get this shit over and done with so Robyn and I can move on.

I reach the main room of the warehouse where Jeremy has been held since Dad and Luca brought him here. I made sure the guards had been giving him as little food and water as possible whilst also keeping him alive since I didn’t want the fucker dying before I got some alone time with him.

Call it brotherly bonding or whatever.

I find him strapped to a chair in the center of the room, he’s either asleep or passed out from exhaustion, though I don’t really give a fuck which.

I walk over and slap him awake. “Wakey, wakey,” I singsong.

His head snaps up and he blinks rapidly before jolting backwards when he realizes it’s me standing in front of him.

Well, he jolts as far as he can while having his full body wrapped in chains and rope.

“I’ve gotta say, Jer, it’s been a long time coming, huh? I mean… I went and married your little sister before even doing the whole meeting the family thing. Well, she met mine, of course. But we never got to have that whole ‘if you hurt her, I’ll kill you chat,’ did we? Though if I’m being honest, it’d be a bit wasted now, wouldn’t it? Considering you kidnapped my wife and unborn child.”

One of the men stood off to the side of the room sucks in a breath, and I realize that even though my family know about Robyn being pregnant, it’s not common knowledge to the rest of the famiglia yet.

Oops.

Jeremy doesn’t react to the news of Robyn being pregnant, and I didn’t expect him to. He’s clearly a fucking psychopath considering what he did and was planning on doing to his own sister.

And people say I’m unhinged.

I’d never do what he did to any woman, never mind my own family. My own fucking blood.

He glares at me, but I can see the fear in his eyes. He can act tough all he likes, but I know the truth. And the truth is that he’s just a little bitch who thought I didn’t care enough about his sister to even bother coming for her. If he was smart, he would have done his research, and he would have realized that I would’ve stopped at nothing to bring her back home to me.

Robyn may have been invisible to her family growing up, but she has a new family now. And her new family love her for who she is. We see her, all of her, and would do fucking anything for her.

Speaking of that family, I hear the door creaking open and I turn to see my father, Luca and Marco stroll inside.

I roll my eyes. “This is a surprise, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

Luca is the first to speak. “What? You think this asshole can fuck with our sister and we wouldn’t wanna be here to watch him pay for it?”

“He hurt a member of our family, or two members if you really think about it. We weren’t just gonna sit at home while you had all the fun, little brother,” Marco says with a rare smirk, and I nod to them both before turning to Dad.

“This little bitch hurt my daughter and could have harmed my grandchild. I’m just here to watch the son of a bitch piss himself while you do what you’re best at,” he says with a shrug, and I watch as they all take a seat at the side of the room.

Right. Guess I have an audience for today’s production.

I force my attention back to the fucker tied up in front of me and try to imagine what it was like for Robyn growing up with him, having to have him as her only family after her parents died, having him—the guy at least twice her size—be heavy handed and abusive towards her. The images are so fucking clear in my mind, it lights a fire inside me and I gesture for Luca and Marco to untie him.

Luca does so without question, eagerly jumping in while Marco huffs but does it anyway. I have no clue how he can somehow get this far in our life without enjoying a little torture, but whatever. I’m not here to psychoanalyze my brother. I’m here to torture my brother-in-law.

“Stand him up,” I order, and they both immediately oblige.

They pull him to his feet, and he sways between their grip while I head over to the workbench and check out the array of instruments. As much as this asshole deserves pain for everything he’s ever done to my girl, I don’t want this to last too long. I just want to get home to my wife.

I grab the blowtorch and stroll back over to him. I fiddle with the settings a little before firing it up, savoring the sight of his eyes widening and his body trembling while my brothers continue to hold him in place.

“I really wanna get home to my wife, so I’m gonna make this quick,” I say before bringing it to his torso. I hold it against his left side, careful to keep it away from Luca, since I don’t want to accidentally fuck up my brother.

Izzy really would fucking shoot me.

His screams echo around the room as the smell of burnt flesh fills the air and… is that?

Yep, he’s pissed himself.

Honestly, why do these guys have to piss themselves at the first sign of torture.

“The bitch isn’t fucking worth this,” he spits and my brothers both twist his arms like a pretzel. If they use any more pressure, they’ll break both of his arms. I wouldn’t mind it, per se, but this is my show.

“Not worth it? That bitch is my fucking wife,” I roar and throw three punches to his ribs, right in the spot that Robyn’s been hurting this past eleven days.

“Hurts, huh? My wife has been struggling too, since that’s exactly how she’s been feeling since you bruised her ribs.” I punch him in the same spot again, just for funzies and give him my signature maniacal grin.

“She had a concussion too, my angel had headaches for days after you hit her head,” I growl, and grab a brick from the table. I’m usually much more inventive than this, but every minute spent in this room is a minute spent away from Robyn, and I’m itching to get back to her.

I smash the brick against the right side of his head and watch as blood trickles down his cheek, listening as his groans of pain light up that spark inside of me that loves this shit so much.

“You know, I could spend hours in this room, dragging out your pain and relishing the sight of you crying and begging for your life. But my pregnant wife is sitting at home, waiting for me. The wife that grew up feeling invisible in her own home thanks to you and your shithead parents. But she’s not invisible anymore, she has me and my family,” I say and walk over to the contraption in the corner of the room.

This warehouse used to be a waste treatment center before we… acquired it, and I open the steel door to let him see what’s inside.

“So, my dear brother-in-law, I’m no fucking magician, I can’t make you disappear completely… but I can turn you to ash.”

I smirk as any remaining color drains from his face as he realizes that this is it for him. There’s no coming back from this.

I watch as my brothers lead him over and lay him down on the pull-out table. They strap him down once again before pushing him through. His cries are muffled by the machinery, and I don’t even care to stick around and watch, too busy thinking about getting home to my girl.

I head to the bathroom, strip out of my clothes and wash up before dressing in a pair of jeans and a hoodie I have stashed here before heading back out to my family.

I nod to our men as I make my way outside where my dad and brothers are stood waiting for me.

“I’m not sticking around, I wanna get home to Robyn.”

“Yeah, about that…” Luca says, and I scowl at him as I wait for him to continue.

“Did you really think my wife would listen to you when you asked her to keep Robyn in the apartment? Hate to break it to you, brother, but these wives of ours won’t listen to a goddamn word we say if they don’t feel like it,” he says with a smirk while my dad chuckles.

“Where the fuck are they?” I growl.

“Come on, little bro. I’ll take you to them if you promise not to threaten my wife with bodily harm for taking your girl out of the apartment.”

Fucking wonderful.